I opened the restaurant yesterday morning. It was 6:20 when I parked my car in the Chick-fil-A parking lot. The sky was still dark like the dead of night and it seemed the whole world should've still been sleeping.
Yesterday was a pretty typical morning at work.
Until two ladies walked through the front door.
They were both deaf.
I was in the dining room as usual and as I greeted them "good morning," I received no acknowledgement. I watched them signing to each other and then communicating their order to my coworker at the register without saying a word. And that's when I realized. They couldn't hear or speak.
Something jolted awake inside of me. A few of you know that I took two years of an American Sign Language course as my foreign language in high school. I'm not fluent in it- I never was fluent in it though and I never had much real practice with it.
But those years of learning came back to me in a heartbeat and I felt led to go and speak to them in their own language. In sign language.
My heart started beating faster. I started feeling anxious. Nervous. Scared. What if I messed up? If I made a mistake? What if they couldn't understand me? What if I made a fool of myself? What if my memory failed me? What would they think, me trying to communicate with them in their language? Would they think I was weird?
I was so afraid to go over and try talking to those ladies. But I was reminded of how I would feel if I spoke a different language and someone tried talking to me. Even if the person didn't speak my language perfectly, I would appreciate the effort they were making. And how foolish is it, I was reminded, to learn a language and never use it?
So I gathered my courage and approached the table where the women sat eating and signing to each other. I greeted them "good morning," I asked if everything was good, I asked if they needed their drinks refilled. They understood me fine. And we exchanged a smile. It was as simple as that.
But as I escaped to the restroom afterwards (as I always escape to the restroom anywhere anytime I need to regain my composure and quiet my nerves), I felt the Lord remind me that it's foolish to learn a language and to never use it, yes. But it's also just as foolish to have a gift and never put it to use.
God has given each of us gifts, talents, abilities. But too often we allow fear to keep us from using those gifts to minister to others. We have the gift of salvation and eternal life in Jesus. But too often we allow fear to keep us from sharing that gift with others.
Fear of people's opinions, what they might think. Fear of making a mistake. Fear of failure.
We're afraid of FAILING.
But why are we so afraid of failure?
As I read once, failure is only a sign that you were brave enough to try something.
And what if maybe "failure" doesn't even exist? If you try something, learn something from it, walk away better and wiser and stronger... Is it really a failure? Or is it ultimately still a success?
Maybe it's time that we stop being afraid of taking risks and trying something. That we step out and put to good use the abilities and talents that we've been blessed with without worrying of making a mistake. Let yourself be a beginner. Nobody starts off in anything as an expert. Maybe it's time that we stop being so afraid of what people might think and openly, fearlessly, share the greatest Gift known to man.
